Autonomous vehicles use various computing systems to aid in the transport of passengers from one location to another. Some autonomous vehicles may require some initial input or continuous input from an operator, such as a pilot, driver, or passenger. Other systems, for example autopilot systems, may be used only when the system has been engaged, which permits the operator to switch from a manual mode (where the operator exercises a high degree of control over the movement of the vehicle) to an autonomous mode (where the vehicle essentially drives itself) to modes that lie somewhere in between.
Such vehicles are equipped with various types of sensors in order to detect objects in the surroundings. For example, autonomous vehicles may include lasers, sonar, radar, cameras, and other devices which scan and record data from the vehicle's surroundings. These devices in combination (and in some cases alone) may be used to build 3D models of the objects detected in the vehicle's surrounding.
In addition to modeling and detecting objects in the vehicle's surroundings, autonomous vehicles need to reason about the parts of the world that are not seen by these sensors (e.g., due to occlusions) to drive safely. Without taking into account the limitations of these sensors, this may lead to dangerous maneuvers such as passing around blind corners, moving into spaces that are partially occluded by other objects, etc.